1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to extending organizational boundaries in a cloud computing operating environment in which resources are hosted in a shared pool of configurable computing resources.
2. Background of the Related Art
An emerging information technology (IT) delivery model is cloud computing, by which shared resources, software and information are provided over the Internet to computers and other devices on-demand. Cloud computing can significantly reduce IT costs and complexities while improving workload optimization and service delivery. With this approach, an application instance can be hosted and made available from Internet-based resources that are accessible through a conventional Web browser over HTTP.
Currently, organizations that leverage the cloud to provide solution services to their customer bases also are looking to implement notions of organizational boundaries that would allow them to control access to information as well as interactions between and among their constituencies. The concept of a “community cloud” would enable companies in many different types of industries to leverage cloud technology to expand and transform their business. Thus, for example, an agent-based insurance Company that relies heavily on independent agencies as a channel to reach customers may have an interest in sharing resources and services (using the cloud) while at the same time limiting which agents can talk to other agents in a chain. While some cloud-based solutions provide their users with application-specific flexibility in defining the scope of an organizational boundary, there remains a need to provide a more robust solution wherein the concept of organizational boundaries is fully extensible throughout a cloud so that users can control access to information and enforce policies around interactions across those boundaries.